Just because Luiz Felipe Scolari had displayed his first signs of paranoia with Friday's uncharacteristic attack on referees does not mean they are not out to get the Chelsea manager. That at least must have been the Brazilian's conviction in the light of Mike Riley's controversial decision to dismiss Frank Lampard at Anfield, although the reasons for Chelsea's demise stretch way beyond the draconian match official.

Lampard's red card for a dangerous challenge on Xabi Alonso, one in which he won the ball with his studs showing and caught the Spain international on the follow-through, was harsh in the extreme and another chapter in a long-running feud between the midfielders. In an interview only this weekend Lampard revealed the enmity that exists with Alonso and that originates from his foul that left the Basque with a broken ankle at Anfield on New Year's Day 2005. Every encounter since, the England international claimed, has involved a verbal or physical confrontation while his attempts to apologies to Alonso personally four years ago were met with resounding silence. Theirs is a trivial complication compared with the fundamental problems facing Scolari at Stamford Bridge, however.

The World Cup-winning manager must wonder, amid the ruins of a fourth defeat in five matches against fellow members of the "big four" this season, how a club with such lofty ambition and resources ended up, five years after Roman Abramovich's mission began, with Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou constituting two-thirds of their attack for a "must-win" game against Liverpool. Their mere presence at Anfield alone is a sign of a club that has lost track of its development in recent seasons and a stark contrast to the long-term view consistently taken by Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

The contribution of these two distinctly average talents, signed for a combined total of £24m during the reign of José Mourinho, was minimal at best against Liverpool. The sight of Malouda giving up the chase as Alvaro Arbeloa swept into the Chelsea area just 11 minutes into the second-half encapsulated his disinterested performance perfectly. The £15m France midfielder had even less impact with the ball, and was consistently, easily robbed of possession by a hungrier, more committed Liverpool pack. Even Rafael Benítez had cause to bemoan the deterioration in Malouda these past two years.

Robbie Keane may be the most costly example, but the in-fighting between Benítez and the Liverpool hierarchy over the club's transfer policy commenced long before a £20.3m international striker was relegated to the back row of the Anfield directors' box for a critical game against a championship rival. It was the day after Liverpool's defeat to Milan in the 2007 Champions League final when Benítez, then in a position of strength against the newly-installed American owners, demanded a change in how Anfield conducts its transfer business and accused the club of missing out on deals through "always talking". Malouda was one of the targets to which the Liverpool manager was referring.

With Kalou returning to anonymity following his two goals against Middlesbrough in midweek, Nicolas Anelka was isolated not only tactically but in terms of the quality and spirit of the Chelsea attack. Their prospects of salvaging a draw here with 10 men were hardly enhanced when Didier Drogba replaced Anelka and delivered only another disgracefully bereft cameo.

The lack of strength and class up front must have galled Alex and John Terry in the heart of the Chelsea defence. Their relentless endeavour could not repel Liverpool on its own. After the sale of Wayne Bridge and Carlo Cudicini, and with no replacements arriving, the Chelsea squad is weaker than when the January window first opened. This is not how it was presented in the brochure to "Big Phil" last summer.